So initially, I planned on sharing some more go-to thoracic mobility drills as that’s an important part of mobility that’s often lacking and rarely addressed directly. But when this week came, something just didn’t feel right - sounds woo-woo I know, but just roll with it. Every word I write on here is for YOU, not me. And in my gut, I didn’t feel like that’s what the community needed right now. We need a reminder to move and listen to our bodies and our heart - what do we really need right now??

(side note: if you follow me on IG, this will look very familiar. But I expand on the post I made on this topic, so keep reading!)

When you work out (now or ever), Make sure it's coming from a place of self-care. Not out of shame, guilt, or fear. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
A lot of our culture, especially diet culture, tends to push these as drivers. Things like the photos that I've seen going around showing before and after #quarantine15 ... While there is some entertainment value there, it's still a harmful message. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I used to have a fear of gaining fat and even got to a point where I would excessively work out if I missed a day due to guilt. Not a great mental place...In fact, that fear and guilt is what drove me to my, thankfully brief, battle with bulimia. And in hind sight, there is more than one period of my life where I was probably wayy over exercising compared to my caloric intake, completely out of fear of getting fat and therefore not attractive or worthy (I now know this isn’t how it works, but this is definitely the message I got, and I know many others got, as a kid). Even still I catch myself sometimes feeling this immense amount of guilt if I don't go hard in the gym for even one day. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Over the past couple years I've learned that adequate rest and recovery is just as important. (Actually, it’s more like the grief of losing my dad slammed me like a freight train and forced me to slow down for the first time in my life. And forced me to learn this) And it's also really important to listen to what your body needs. Esp in a time of crisis. You may notice that you felt a little bit more fatigued or run down lately. And it can be tough to tell when your body needs a break and when it needs you to move in order to regain some energy. That difference is something that is learned over time, but later in this post I give some sugestions to be able to tell. (spoiler alert, it involves moving)
⁣⁣
Movement is absolutely a form of self care. But it can be abused just like anything else. I’ve seen a couple posts/comments from people about being on their 20th day in a row going hard in an at home workout…which tells me they probably need a rest day or 2. I’ve definitely been this person. And in hindsight I can recognize that it was usually because I was using working out as a distraction - an often unconscious fear that if I slowed down at all, some part of reality or my feelings that I was avoiding would overtake me. I have 2 examples of this that I’ll share in case they resonate:

1. As my dad’s caregiver, that hour at the gym with my CrossFit fam was my one hour of “normal” where I got to forget what was going on and pretend everything was okay again. (the saving grace here was that my mom needed me during the time of the Saturday and Sunday classes, and usually all I could fit in would be a 1 mile run or a 10 min core workout, so I was kind of forced to take rest days or active recovery days. That allowed my 5 full-out gym days to be a healthy and needed outlet instead of turning into an obsessive unhealthy distraction)

2. During PT school, I don’t think I ever really realized how stressed and on-edge I was during that time until years later (though ask anyone I went to school with or who taught me and I bet they could tell). My perfectionism was on full blast and I had a sense of pride in being go-go-go all the time. (I mentioned this in my “33 things about me” blog, but my mom lovingly calls me the Energizer bunny - and for most of my life, I wore that as a badge of honor that I could not ever let myself get away from - not healthy.) I honestly can’t remember taking a rest day for those 3 years. I was always going on runs while thinking through notes or case studies, at the gym for at least an hour a day even at odd hours like midnight just to “get rid of some energy” (what I told myself. It really came from a fear of slowing down), or going on strenuous hikes (read: running Camelback Mountain). While these are all good activities, the fact that I didn’t take nearly enough recovery days, wasn’t sleeping enough (maybe 5 hours a night - another thing I thought was a badge of honor), and that my drive to workout was coming from a place of guilt and fear…all of those turn what externally looked like a healthy outlet to a very unhealthy behavior that added to my stress.

Considering the current times, I feel like a lot of people are turning to exercise as an outlet. Which is awesome!! As long as it is coming from a healthy mindset and not perpetuating stress, guilt, fear, etc.

Key 1 to ensuring this is having adequate rest/recovery days. If you were working out regularly before, say 4 days a week, then doing 5 days, maybe even 6, during this time is ok! But going on a 12 day streak without one even being active recovery is probably a little overkill. And if you weren’t really working out before, ease into it! Start at maybe 3 days a week. You wouldn’t jump from never running to running a half marathon the next day, would you? I think we all know that’s a great way to risk getting injured. Same applies to any form of exercise. Build up your body/system’s tolerance. With that said, ABSOLUTELY MOVE!!! Get started, but be smart about it. (And feel free to message me with questions if you’re unsure where/how to start)

Now then, as I mentioned, the current world pandemic we have going on is absolutely a trauma. And we are all grieving a bit in our own way, whether we realize it or not. Becuase we are grieving the life before as we knew it. That’s gone. And it is absolutely normal and okay to greive. Understanding what it is and what it looks like can help in determining what we are really feeling…For anyone who hasn’t looked into it, per Elizabeth Kubler Ross and David Kessler, there are now 6 stages of greif:

• denial

• anger

• depression

• barganing

• acceptance

• meaning

And these are NOT LINEAR and can CYCLE. If you want to hear a GREAT podcast that talks a bit about these stages (and actually puts it in terms of the current situation) and finding meaning, check out this podcast episode with Brene Brown and David Kessler. (For that matter, this entire podcast that Brene just released is FIRE). In many of these stages, our energy may be more depleated than usual.

That brings me to Key 2: Determining when to push it and when to dial back. So if you're feeling run down, get up and move a little. Start light. Here’s my usual go-to “just get started”:

• 3 rounds

  • 200m row/run

  • 10 push up to pike (push up and then press back into the down dog pose)

  • 10 cossack squats

If you start feeling yourself regain some energy, then this turns into a nice little warmup. Now go a little harder. Absolutely go for even a soul crushing workout (Intensity matters!! Push yourself. You mind will say stop wayy before your body actually needs to if a little movement gave you an increase in energy at first). On the flip side, if you start working out, and after 20 min your body is still saying 🙅, then listen to it. And this won’t be that “Holy crap this sucks! Why do I do this to myself again?” kind of no from your body. It will feel like the more you push, the more you feel drained and the heavier your soul gets. Sometimes, when I kept pushing through this feeling, my body would go as far as making me feel super lightheaded and see black spots to et me to chill out. If you get this kind of “no” from your body, try doing some breath work such as square breathing, take a long walk, or do a gentle yoga session instead. And if you start to feel some guilt creep in, acknowledge it, acknowledge why, allow yourself to feel it, and then acknowledge what you really needed and why. Move through it.

With that said, after 2 days of giving yourself grace and taking it easy, if you're still feeling like this on day 3 and you aren't actually sick, go ahead and push it. See what happens. Lack of movement can also add to decreased energy if it's prolonged. And again, remember intensity matters. Get your heart rate up. Refer back to the resources blog if you need some free workout programs.

And as always, I’m here for you if you feel like a nagging pain is railroading your workouts -hit me up and let’s chat 480-751-2137 (Also applies to anyone who just needs to talk. Believe me, I live alone with my dog. I get it)